Vice President Kamala Harris made a trip home to San Francisco on Monday, where she kicked off the November general election, less than a week after Super Tuesday, with two campaign events in her old political turf.

Harris regularly campaigns and makes White House trips to San Francisco, where she first rose to political prominence in California when she was elected district attorney in 2003.

But as the 2020 general election heads toward a fierce rematch between President Biden and former President Trump, whether voters like it or not, Harris traveled back to the Bay Area to deliver a message about what’s coming up is on the ballot in November.

At two private fundraising events, Harris portrayed the election as the choice between freedom and dictatorship, creating jobs through the green energy economy or denying climate change, and securing reproductive rights versus depriving women of their physical autonomy.

“This is literally about our democracy,” Harris told a crowd of about a hundred people, including acclaimed singer-songwriter Carole King, who gathered at the posh Pacific Heights mansion of author Robert Mailer Anderson and longtime Democratic political donor Nicola Miner .

As a role model, people look at what you do to see if it matches what you say,” the vice president said. “So the world is watching this election, not to mention the great stakes that the American people have in the election. outcome of November this year.

Polls show the Biden-Harris campaign facing an uncertain path to reelection, despite Trump’s ongoing legal troubles and skepticism from independent and Republican voters that his second stint in the White House would prove less chaotic than the first.

But

Biden

So

faces concerns among voters across the political spectrum who otherwise supported him in 2020, including those who worry he is too old to serve a second term, and especially young progressives frustrated by his support to Israel and resistance to the call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Harris therefore plays a crucial role in securing Biden another four years in the White House, said Thad Kousser, a professor of political science at UC San Diego.

Kousser said that while a vice president typically serves as an “attack dog” for a sitting president on the campaign trail, Biden has not been shy about using the pulpit, especially during his State of the Union address on Thursday, to criticize Trump . and the Republican Party.

Instead, Harris appears to be courting a younger, more disillusioned voter base and is trying to convince the electorate that she is ready for the job should she need to step in, Kousser said.

“The fact that she has become a more outspoken supporter of a ceasefire in Gaza, I think she is speaking directly to the progressive younger base to say, ‘I hear you and there are voices in this administration that have your concerns share about this issue. ‘, said Kousser.

“I think this year is her chance to show what she has done and reconnect with voters,” he added. “She’s done a lot of work over the last four years. This year is her year to speak more directly to the public during the campaign about what she does, what she stands for, and give people a sense of what a Harris presidency represents. would be.”

California is a reliably blue state, and Biden is in no danger of losing here in November. Still, a large share of voters remain unenthusiastic about their presidential choices this fall, according to a February survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Harris has also stumbled in the polls and struggled to discern her own leadership in the White House, especially with a policy portfolio that includes some of the toughest issues in the White House.

Washington

,

DC,

including immigration reform.

What does America think of Kamala Harris? We follow her polls

“The American people are struggling under the weight of Bidenflation,” Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the Republican Party of California, said in a statement after Biden’s State of the Union address.

“Millions of illegal crossings across our open southern border have turned every state into a border state. Disastrous foreign policy has weakened our nation on the world stage. Our communities are less safe because crime is rampant. Our children are struggling in failing schools,” Patterson said. “This November, the American people will finally retire Joe Biden and his disastrous record once and for all.

Harris’ stop in San Francisco was part of a campaign in western states in recent days, with additional stops in Arizona and Nevada, leaving states up for grabs in November. She focused her speeches on preserving access to abortion and appealed to Latino voters on issues such as protecting access to health care and the economy.

Speaking in one

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voice

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During her travels, Harris reiterated that message to a group of 30 supporters at a Fairmont Hotel luncheon in downtown San Francisco hosted by Sheldon Kimber, founder and CEO of green energy company Intersect Power.

Harris said voters have a “split screen” choice between Biden and Trump on combating or worsening climate change, along with other issues that are “fully under attack,” such as access to the ballot box, gun control and Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. advantages.

These are very real issues we face in this election, she said. This is a moment when it is up to all of us to decide what kind of country we want to live in.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.